Bid to put a Green in Texas governor race may be illegal, expert says

AUSTIN - One of the state's leading election experts says a
petition drive funded through an out-of-state group to put the
Green Party on the ballot this fall might have violated state
law.

Party officials say the group, a nonprofit corporation,
collected 92,000 signatures and delivered them as "a gift" so that
the Green Party could field candidates in the November election.
The arrangement for the petitions, set up by an Arizona Republican
consultant, was revealed Sunday by The Dallas Morning News.

Analysts say Republican Gov. Rick Perry could be the beneficiary
if the liberal Green Party candidate for governor drains votes from
Democratic nominee Bill White.

It's unclear who paid for the petition drive, but funding went
through Take Initiative America, a Missouri nonprofit corporation.
Buck Wood, an Austin lawyer and expert in election law, said Monday
that such a transaction is illegal under state law.

"That corporation cannot make contributions to political parties
in Texas. And to do so is a felony," he said. "It is also a felony
for a political party to accept a corporate contribution."

Green Party state coordinator Kat Swift said the group intends
to report the Missouri corporation as the donor of the in-kind
contribution.

She said she didn't know who actually provided the funding, and
Tim Mooney, the Arizona operative who arranged the effort, declined
to say. He estimated the cost at about $200,000.

Wood said that while an individual donor could legally bankroll
petition drives to put a party on the ballot, corporations cannot.
Wood has represented Democrats in litigation in which corporate
money was illegally used to defeat political candidates.

In the case of the Texas Green Party, a Chicago-based
petition-gathering company, Free and Equal Inc., gathered the
signatures under contract with Take Initiative America.

It's unclear whether the petitions could be disallowed based on
how the Green Party reports the donation. But the party and its
leaders could face significant penalties if they are found to break
the law.

The Texas secretary of state is reviewing the signatures
submitted by the Green Party. If the agency validates the
petitions, the party will be on the ballot in November. A decision
is expected by the end of the month.

State Democratic Chairman Boyd Richie called the petition drive
a disguised effort to benefit the Republican governor.

"The Green Party has become just another arm of the Republican
Party, and Gov. Rick Perry's re-election effort and the
Republican/Green Party coordination is a blow to the integrity of
our election system," said Ritche.

"The signatures gained through this Republican effort should be
withdrawn, and Green Party candidates, officials and supporters
should save their integrity and repudiate petitions that undermine
democracy and fair elections."

Perry spokesman Mark Miner reiterated that the governor's
campaign had nothing to do with the petition drive.

"Typical Democratic Party accusation without any form of truth
to it," Miner said. "They sound like they're panicking. We're
focused on our race."

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